Just wanna start this off by documenting the fact that I washed our thick reversible comforter this morning to prepare it for summer storage and the washing machine ate it. There are several holes and there’s really no way to repair it since those holes aren’t along the seams. I guess we’ll be donating it to the recycling event this Saturday where they can cut it up and use the fabric for other things.
I’ve washed it in the past without issues, so I don’t know what happened. The only thing that makes me feel better is that it was purchased through Groupon with points I got from our Discover cash back so it didn’t actually cost us anything. And we have a replacement comforter, although it’s not as fluffy. Oh, and it also had a little pink staining on the grey side as if it came in contact with bleach at some point even though I don’t use bleach.
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Roku
Last month Target had a Roku on sale for $25 so we decided to grab one; we wanted to watch TV in the bedroom with a remote. Bonus was that I could access my free Apple TV subscription on it; I ended up binging the entire season of The Morning Show within a short time, and we also started watching Central Park as well.
A couple of weeks ago we lost our T-Vision cable services through T-Mobile. They decided to get out of the cable tv business which was probably a good decision since they were not doing it well. There were so many things about how their services worked that annoyed me.
We had purchased their streaming device, which was similar to the Roku, and it was on the living room TV. We decided to swap the devices so we could watch Apple TV shows downstairs instead and ended up binging Ted Lasso within two days.
That show is so good! I can’t wait for subsequent seasons, although my free subscription will likely be gone by then. It was only supposed to last through last November but Apple kept extending it at no charge. I believe it’s due to expire in July.
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The following are items we bought last year that I never wrote about.
Air Fryer
I never talked about how back in October Joe’s former employer said he had earned a free gift to pick from a catalog. Nothing much stood out to us, so we ended up selecting an air fryer even though we didn’t really want another kitchen appliance to find storage space for. But we didn’t have one, so we thought it would be cool to see what everyone else was talking about.
We’ve been pleasantly surprised by how often we make use of it. It’s great from re-heating leftovers like french fries, fried pickles, even small slices of pizza. We’ve made nuggets, bacon, and roasted veggies in it too. I would love to have a larger one that looks like a toaster oven one day. It also made me think – is that type really the same as a convection oven? So I googled it:
While a full-size convection oven and an air fryer both use a fan to move hot air around, an air fryer circulates the air more rapidly inside a small chamber, speeding up the cooking process. Air fryers also employ a basket to more evenly circulate hot air around the bottom of your food.
Good to know. Also, we made space on the counter for it since we use it so much.
Winter Coat
Also in October I took to Facebook for help finding a good winter coat since I’ve spent years looking for one without success:
Does anyone make a winter coat that fits the following criteria?
Lightweight, but warm (like a puffer coat)
Long enough to cover your butt
Zips up
Detachable hood
Outer pockets that zip closed
Inner pockets to hold your phone
Comes in black
I seriously can only find a mishmash of these things but none that fulfill all of my requirements.
In late November I posted an update:
In case anyone is curious, I ended up buying the Columbia Women’s Heavenly Long Hooded Jacket (in black) from Dick’s Sporting Goods.
I gave up on the idea of needing inner pockets for this type of jacket, since I realized I wouldn’t want to be unzipping it in the cold to access the pockets anyway. And even though the hood isn’t removable, it’s not oversized or heavy, so it isn’t a nuisance like it was on my old jacket.
It’s on sale now @ Columbia ($112.50 which is what I paid at Dick’s) if anyone is in the market for a nice long coat that covers your butt.
I also got a black jacket that’s a little shorter from Costco a few weeks ago for only $25. It has two inner pockets and the outside ones are lined with fleece. I am now set for many winters to come.
If anyone knows where I can donate my old coat, please share.
My only complaint after wearing the coat a few times is that it’s not a very deep/dark black and almost looks navy blue in comparison to the jacket I got from Costco which is my everyday coat. The Columbia one is very warm, though! I wore it when we visited Cosley Zoo and Lilacia Park to see the Christmas lights in December.
I also donated my old coat via Burlington Coat Factory. They have a donation box set up inside.
Sheets
Kohls had Cuddl Duds microfiber sheet sets on sale back in November so I ordered a set. Not only is it thicker than the cheapie sheets we currently had (which had holes in it), but it was soft and comfy. Plus they were so deep I was able to fit them over the thick mattress and mattress cover with ease which wasn’t possible before (we had one sheet on the cover and a different one over the mattress which looked rather junky). I liked the set so much I bought a second set later that month when they were on sale for even cheaper (first set cost $38.24 and the second set was only $26.03).